Guest writer: Aya Saleh
Editor: Nada Elnady
Over the decades, all forms of media have been trying to shove beauty standards down our throats, and that is, of course, to benefit from our own insecurities. They’ve been trying to convince us of the idea of the “ideal shape” a woman should have as if it’s a rule that we all need to follow.
This ideal shape that they promote doesn’t even exist in real life, but unfortunately, not all teenagers and kids are aware of that. This type of content can truly brainwash females into thinking that there’s something wrong with the way they look, and it drives them to desperately be in need of changing the way they naturally look by buying insane amounts of products that might improve what they don’t like about their appearance, getting plastic surgeries, or going on a hardcore diet that might cause them health problems and eating disorders too.
All that pressure and desperation can go to many terrible directions and impact women’s mental health and self-esteem. Don’t get me wrong; it’s totally okay if you want to improve something about the way you look, but you shouldn’t be pressured to do so. You shouldn’t be motivated to do that by thinking you’re less valuable or ugly. And you shouldn’t lose yourself in the process of that too.
At last, we need to ask ourselves, what is beauty? There’s no right and wrong answer for that, because beauty is not a scientific term that has one definition! It’s a fluid concept. It varies from one person to another.
As they always say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. You’re the one who sees beauty in someone, and it doesn’t have rules or standards that made you see it. Beauty comes in many shapes and looks, and I believe that each human being has their own unique type of beauty.
There are no classifications for beauty. There are only differences and diverse physical looks that surely don’t lessen from anyone’s beauty, but makes them unique. We need to love ourselves and stop comparing ourselves to what we see on social media or magazines or TV. We need to be more kind to ourselves and remember that our inner beauty and self-respect are the core, and never let anyone convince us otherwise.
